Lili Reinhart Speaks Out About Comparing Women Online: 'It's Upsetting'

During the mid-season finale of Riverdale, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper strips down to her lingerie for Jughead in a “Serpent Dance” — something that was supposed to make us all uncomfortable.

But what is really making us uncomfortable is the comparison between a model wearing the same lingerie to her character in a poll that’s going around the internet.

She doesn’t like it either.

“It’s disappointing,” Lili writes on her Tumblr about it. “This photo is being posted by fan accounts. The same fan accounts who love to talk about the amazing female friendships on the show, girl power, Veronica’s inspiring feminism, body positivity, etc. And that is the most hypocritical sh** I’ve ever seen.”

She continues, “This is a poll. A competition. A comparison of two bodies. It’s a feeding ground for comments of judgement and negativity.� ‘Betty is fat’ ‘that’s not flattering’ ‘the model looks way better.’…I do not have that model’s body. I’m fully aware of this. I don’t have a thigh gap.. a 24 inch waist.. toned arms or abs. I am not her. And how dare anyone assume that I should look like her.”

“And the people who are commenting on this photo and weighing in on this poll� are the ones who are comparing themselves to the model as well. It’s so easy to point out someone else’s ‘flaws’, isn’t it? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves and about our own insecurities.”

Lili goes on to say that this kind of poll has an impact on your mental health, too.

“It’s upsetting to see all these young women who proclaim to be feminists participate in something that represents the exact opposite. To them I say: You are the problem, don’t you get it? You are promoting the idea that this model is what all women should look like and that it’s not okay to look like anything else,” she continues. “This is why we have eating disorders. This is why young teens are suicidal about their body image. This is why people have body dysmorphic disorder. This is why there aren’t nearly enough plus size models in the industry.

“I hope that this makes you reconsider the next time you feel the need to comment on another woman’s weight or figure.”